From Massachusetts, which started granting same-sex marriage licenses in 2004, both sides should learn lessons about the potential sway of the Catholic Church. It's safe to say that Catholic influence — over both legislators and voters — is the most daunting foe facing the Freedom to Marry Coalition, which comprises EqualityMaine, the Maine Civil Liberties Union, the Maine Women's Lobby, Gay and Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), and more than 20 other organizations. Late last year, after the state's Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry — a pro-marriage group of Maine clergy that is a member of the broader Freedom to Marry Coalition — held a press conference affirming its support for same-sex marriage, Portland's Roman Catholic Bishop Richard Malone issued a letter outlining his church's opposition.

"To claim that marriage is a civil right open to all forms of relationships is a misnomer," the letter read in part. "Marriage is an institution that predates civilization, ordained by God, and exclusive to one man and one woman who are given the responsibility to procreate the human race, and to nurture, educate, and pass on shared values and mores to their offspring. To redefine marriage to include same-sex couples is to strip marriage of an essential component, namely the ability and obligation to procreate. To strip marriage of this essential component is to render marriage meaningless and open it up to endless revision and redefinition."

Despite the fact that the letter was read at masses across the state that Sunday (and we can expect more proselytizing from the pulpit), Mutty, the Catholic lobbyist, says: "The way we approach this is not from a religious point of view. We are saying that from a secular point of view marriage between one man and one woman is the natural order of things. We're not trying to legislate Catholic dogma in the public square."

Of course, when a Roman Catholic bishop calls a Catholic legislator expressing the church's disapproval of gay marriage, it's difficult to see the distinction. (Mutty says Malone hasn't yet done this, but "it is an option that remains on the table," according to Mutty — and it's a strategy that's certainly been used in other states.)

To help counter the religious argument, the bill was specially crafted to "affirm religious freedom." If enacted, it "does not authorize any court or other state or local governmental body ... to compel, prevent or interfere in any way with any religious institution's religious doctrine, policy, teaching or solemnization of marriage within that particular religious faith's tradition."

To underscore the secular nature of their goal, gay-marriage supporters often repeat or stress that they're talking not just about marriage, but about civil marriage.

For example: "One of the things that's going to be really important as this moves forward is the separation between civil and religious freedoms," Bellows says, offering a preview of how many conversations will be framed. "That said, every legislator, just as they do on a whole range of issues, is going to have to balance their own religious beliefs with their understanding of civil marriage."

Queer eye for the Hawkeyes This past Monday, as Iowa prepared to officially issue marriage licenses to gay applicants, both law-enforcement and state gay groups prepared for vocal, even violent opposition in America's heartland.

Equal rites? New England has made a pretty good case, in recent years, for America's capital of queer.

31. Ron Prentice Ron Prentice wasn’t just the ugliest member of California’s Proposition 8 committee — he was also the chairman. An entire new circle of hell formed for the demagogues who exploited religion, homophobia, and general Golden State idiocy to pass Prop Hate, and there’s a delicious cock sandwich waiting there for each and every one of them.

The alt-candidates A revolutionary, Ralph Nader, a Baptist minister, and two former congressmen from Georgia are all running for president in Rhode Island.

If words could kill Those of us who make our living by writing know that words are among the most powerful tools in human society.

The shape of things to come The Democratic front-runners and the Republican establishment will be making critical decisions in the coming weeks that will shape the course of the race.

Be afraid This Halloween, if you want to scare the crap out of your favorite political activist — liberal or conservative — skip the fright mask, fake blood, and glowing green goop.

Just the beginning More than a few people asked us why we are publishing this special section now — now that gay-marriage opponents have filed their People's Veto signatures, now that same-sex marriages will not be taking place at least until after Mainers vote on the issue on November 3.

Review: 8: The Mormon Proposition While we were getting decriminalized weed in Massachusetts, a large segment of the population was reeling from the devastating passage of Proposition 8 in California.

Mickey Mouse Multiculturalism Massachusetts treasurer and independent candidate for governor Tim Cahill was off base when he accused incumbent governor Deval Patrick of "playing politics with terrorism" in the wake of Patrick's visit to the controversial Roxbury mosque maintained by the Islamic Society of Boston.

Gay marriage debate comes to Maine Even as same-sex marriage supporters across the country reel from the Election Day approval of California's Proposition 8 — which changed that state's constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman — they are optimistic about bringing gay marriage to Maine, possibly in the upcoming legislative session.

ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE | July 24, 2014 When three theater companies, all within a one-hour drive of Portland, choose to present the same Shakespeare play on overlapping dates, you have to wonder what about that particular show resonates with this particular moment.

CHECKING IN: THE NEW GUARD AND THE WRITER'S HOTEL | July 11, 2014 Former Mainer Shanna McNair started The New Guard, an independent, multi-genre literary review, in order to exalt the writer, no matter if that writer was well-established or just starting out.

NO TAR SANDS | July 10, 2014 “People’s feelings are clear...they don’t want to be known as the tar sands capitol of the United States."